PuddleJumper Estates and ZPM Enterprises
by Wingwyrm
Summary: John Sheppard owns a new Real Estate business and when billionaire Rodney McKay demands that he finds him a house, how could John not? Slash, AU, Earthbound, McShep.
1. Chapter 1

**Title:** PuddleJumper Estates and ZPM Enterprises

**Author:** wingwyrm

**Beta:** sardonicsmiley(lj)

**Disclaimer:** I don't own Star Gate: Atlantis. Brad Wright and Robert C. Cooper own it.

**Rating:** M

**Summary:** John Sheppard owns a new Real Estate business and when billionaire Rodney McKay demands that he finds him a house, how could John not? Slash, AU, Earthbound

**A/N:** Previously posted on Livejournal March 3/2008. I was going through my stuff and realized that I didn't have any SG:A stuff up on FF Net, so I decided to post it :) Hope you like it.

**Part One**

The message that John Sheppard got from his secretary made him wince and make a mental note to get her flowers, possibly a small bouquet of pink and peach roses. She was a botanist; she'd know what he meant.

And if he had the money, she'd totally be getting the raise she deserved.

He looked at the note again and sighed.

_Dr. McKay called again. PICK UP YOUR PHONE MR. SHEPPARD_

Well. Next time she told him that McKay was on the line he'd take the guy off her hands. John had no idea why McKay was so insistent on talking only to him, but really. All John did was sell houses and apartments.

His phone beeped at him and he pressed the intercom.

"Yes, Katie?"

"It's Dr McKay."

Crap. Just because he'd decided to talk to McKay didn't mean he wanted to talk to him right now. "Put him through Katie." His hand was just above the phone when the door to his office slammed open and John jumped back, "What the hell!?"

"Sorry Mr Sheppard." Katie Brown stuck her head in the door and shrugged, "You said you'd deal with him."

"You are John Sheppard of PuddleJumper Estates, yes?" The man didn't bother to let John answer, just stalked up to the desk and tossed a file on top of John's notes. "I want a house and I don't care how you find it or the cost of it." John blinked at him and opened his mouth. "This doesn't require any input from you." The man huffed and crossed his arms as John's mouth snapped shut, "I want something quiet, somewhere to put a cat, an office as big as possible and two master bedrooms. I want neutral colors. I want hardwood and carpet. I want a large kitchen. I want full bathrooms." He paused and cocked his head to the side. "I don't care if there's a view. I don't care who my neighbors are, as long as they're quiet. I don't like small children."

"Dr. McKay--"

"I am ready to put five hundred thousand dollars on your desk right now as incentive. I don't have a price limit. Get me a place to live." He sneered, "Do you think you can work with that?"

Five hundred thousand dollars. That wasn't a small bit of change. His fledgling company could really use that money. John shook himself, "I can tr--"

"Good. I need it by the end of next week." McKay tossed a single piece of paper that fluttered to the desk, spun on the heel of his foot and stomped from the room.

John picked up the check for five hundred thousand and sat back, staring at his door in shock. Okay, so that was 'Hurricane McKay'. No wonder the man had a PR rep.

"John?" His business partner graced his office with her presence, smiling widely at him, "What was that?"

"That, Elizabeth, is a good question." John leaned his chair back and crossed his legs at the ankles on the desk. "What do you know about Dr. Rodney McKay?"

"Well," She sat, "He's a genius and he's rich. A billionaire. He owns ZPM Enterprises and last I heard he never goes out in public; at least, not unless his daughter is doing something. Apparently she plays volleyball, basketball, baseball, hockey and cello." Elizabeth sighed, "I still remember when the press announced that Major McKay was killed in action ten years ago. McKay and Jillian weren't seen for months."

"He was married?" John goggled at Elizabeth and she just smiled faintly.

"It was mutually beneficial. McKay wanted to pass his genes on; Samantha Carter wanted someone to come home to that didn't mind that she was gone for months on assignment."

"What about the daughter? Jillian?" John snorted, "McKay just told me that he didn't like small children." He eyed Elizabeth, "And how, exactly do you know all of this? Did you stalk him or something?"

"No John, don't be silly." Elizabeth grinned widely, "He was the _Times_ Man of the Year two years ago. Practically the whole issue was about McKay. As for Jillian, she's sixteen this year and in university. The news surrounding her birth is a little spotty but McKay was only a millionaire then. She was a bit of an early surprise, but not unwanted. And," Elizabeth stood, "It's told that she melted her father's frozen heart."

"If that was McKay melted, I'd hate to have seen his black undead heart before." Before she vanished out the door the words John had muttered under his breath reached her ears, making her laugh freely.

Thinking about what exactly what McKay wanted, and fitting in what he knew about the man, like the fact that he had a daughter who was away at university, John decided that he'd start looking for houses in gated communities. They were usually quiet and even if McKay didn't care if he had a nice view, John was pretty sure that Jillian would like one when she was home.

The first house John crossed off his list was Little Secret Gated Community, 51002 Nevada and Aria. True, the neighborhood was exactly what McKay was looking for, however the house itself wasn't big enough. There was only one master bedroom and by the way that McKay had thrown his arms around John's office, the home office in 51002 was way too small.

The second house was a bit different, the small Russian immigrant community was very secular, but McKay would have fit in perfectly. However, the small house on Cyber and Briar had no carpeting and there was tiled floors all over. The bathrooms were also small and figuring that McKay had specified _full_ bathrooms for a reason, he wasn't going to take the chance.

He shifted through the package that Katie had left him that 'sort of maybe' fit what McKay was looking for. It took a long and lonely six days to get through the houses and apartments and still nothing fit with what was in the list of requirements.

Having just two days left until McKay came back, John resorted to the pile of new housing that had come up.

One house caught his attention immediately. 31415 Atlantis and Command in the Pegasus South Gated Community. The South community was quieter then the other three Pegasus communities, housing more people around McKay's age with only a few young couples who were likely to produce children. The Pegasus SGC also had a beautiful view around it and in it. There were few dogs and only two children under the age of fifteen in the whole community.

Tracking the house down in his old Ford truck, John parked on the road, knowing his engine was leaking transmission fluid. He didn't want to ruin the driveway. He walked to the house, got the keys from his pocket, unlocked the front door and stepped inside.

Perfect. Light beige and cream colors. There was hardwood in the entry, kitchen, laundry room and bathrooms and carpet everywhere else. Two floors with a master bedroom on each floor and a home office that was twice as big as John's. The other rooms, which included two guest rooms, a laundry room and a plush basement suite with its own smaller kitchen and laundry room, were nice as well. They were done in soft blues and light rose colors.

Listening carefully in all the rooms, John realized that he couldn't hear a single sound from the outside world in this house. It was perfect.

Now he just had to show it to McKay and get him to pay the one point eight million dollar price tag. Even rich people didn't spend that much on a house this small. They bought mansions, not houses.

Of course, considering how stubborn McKay was, the dickering over the price would probably range it down to one point two, possibly even just one million. Now, to get everything started.

Friday morning McKay was in his office long before John got there.

"Dr. McKay?"

"I've been up all night at the lab. Give me good news." John beamed at his ragged visage.

"Okay! I have a house for you. It's at the Pegasus SGC." Rodney nodded and waved a hand for him to continue, "It fits all of your requirements, although it is listed as one point eight million."

McKay pulled out his check book and scribbled a check and held it out to him, "When can I move in?"

John blinked at him. "Uhm--"

"I told you I needed the house by today. When can I move in?"

"Err, it's empty, so today if you want--" John stared at the check with something akin to horror. McKay had already given him half a million and this check was for one point eight. "Dr McKay, you already gave me a check--"

"That was for you. This is for the house. Take whatever commission you want from it." McKay held out a hand and snapped his fingers, "Keys, keys. I need to get the moving truck on its way."

John blindly handed over the keys to the house, "You'll need to sign--"

"Send the papers to ZPM Enterprises, care of Miko Kusanagi. She's my PA." McKay paused at the door and looked over his shoulder. "Thank you."

Rodney was gone midway through John's first word, "You're welcome. Huh." He looked down to the check again.

He'd told the previous owners of the house that the buyer would buy the house for one million. They'd agreed and signed the papers. He thought he'd get McKay down to one point two million and get a check for the other seven hundred thousand.

Adding the other check that McKay had given him, he now had one point three million from the man and one million for the house. That was a lot of money.

That would cover a lot of business expenses. He could hire real estate agent Ronon Dex. Dex had huge sales.

He had one point three million dollars. To spend as he saw fit. As _commission_.

"Holy shit."

By Monday the money was in the bank, he'd stolen Dex away from Satedan Real Estate and hired Elizabeth a secretary. Peter Grodin was amazing and by Wednesday John was wondering how they'd managed to get everything done with just the three of them now that they were five.

It also seemed that over the weekend business had boomed. Suddenly there were people from everywhere coming to see him about buying a house. There were reporters hanging around asking about McKay's new house and John had rolled his eyes at them. Like he was going to lead reporters to the guy who'd given him one point three million dollars.

PuddleJumper Estates was suddenly a business with prospects and an income that was larger then its bills.

Thursday found John standing outside of the massive glass and steel tower of ZPM Enterprises. It was bigger then he'd thought it would be. Tightening his fingers around his new briefcase, John went in, heading directly to the desk.

The woman there raised an eyebrow at him coolly, "Yes?"

"I'm John Sheppard. Dr. McKay bought a house through my real estate company and I have a few papers here that he--"

"Oh yes!" She brightened and flashed a big smile, warming immediately, "I'm Laura Cadman, Building Manager. Please, come with me." She grabbed his elbow and started towards the large glass elevator in the corner. She pulled a small key card out of her pocket, slipped it into the key lock, placed her hand on the pedestal and winced a bit. She smiled at him. "Don't worry, it was just a pinprick to get my blood for my DNA and to make sure that I'm alive and no one chopped my hand off."

John made sure not to swallow too loudly. That was some serious security. And she was a little too calm about it. "You're not worried about that happening?"

"Oh no!" Laura waved him into the elevator, "No," She pressed the top button, "Dr. Dumais was the Building Manager before me and they just killed her outright with a virus that caused a brain aneurysm. No, I'm not too worried about them chopping my hand off." She gave him a wide grin and John could only nod at her in reply.

There was a soft ding and John tried not to seem rushed as he exited the elevator. He had no wish what-so-ever to stay anywhere near the woman who talked so casually about the person who used to hold her position dying so calmly. "So, ah, where are we?"

"This is the midway floor where we need to change elevators to get to Dr. McKay's office. Then we'll talk to Miko. If she says that Dr. McKay is busy, we leave the papers with her and she'll return them to me to give to you later. If she lets us into Dr. McKay's office then we go in, you get your signatures and we leave." Laura pinned him in place with the fiercest glare that he'd ever seen on a woman before, "You do not talk to Dr. McKay unless he asks you a question that he wants answered. You do not argue when we have to leave. Is that understood?"

John nodded. Laura Cadman would have made a perfect officer in the military. He'd had commanders with less balls then she had.

Miko Kusanagi was a small Japanese woman sitting at a huge shiny black desk covered in paper and folders and post-its. "Miko, is Dr. McKay busy?"

"Yes." She didn't even look up, "Sorry Laura, no one goes in today. He is having a hard day." John cleared his thought and Miko looked at him. "Yes?"

"I'm John Sheppard--"

"Oh!" Miko stood and gestured to the door, "Go right ahead, sir! Dr. McKay thought you would send the papers over, but he told me that if you came to send you in, no matter what time it is or his previous orders."

"Uh. Thanks. Thank you Ms--"

"Ah, it is doctor, but you may call me Miko." She smiled at him and sat back down as he opened the door. It seemed that he was always getting interrupted by McKay and his people. Go figure.

"Dr. McKay?" John stuck his head into the office past the huge black wood doors, realizing that they were thick enough to stop bullets from a handgun. They were also heavier than plain wood doors, so John was going to assume that there was bullet proof metal inside the wood. McKay sure was paranoid.

"I thought I told--" McKay stopped short, seeing John. "Oh. Hi. Sheppard." The man kneeling next to McKay stood and patted his shoulder.

"I'll just be going now, Rodney. Call me when you're done with the lad."

"Yeah, sure, Carson." He waved the Scotsman away, out a door on the left side of the office, and turned to John. "Sorry about that. Carson Beckett is my personal Doctor." McKay stood and waved to the chairs, "Here, please. Sit."

John sat and fiddled with his briefcase, "So, uh, I brought the papers."

"Why didn't you just send them courier?" McKay took the papers and grabbed a pen, speed reading through the legal mumbo-jumbo and signing his John Hancock at all the required places.

"I-- Well, I like to give people a personal touch." John shrugged, "It wasn't that hard to get up here either. It seems like you told everyone to let me come up."

"Just expedient," McKay pressed his lips together and a blush rose on his cheeks, "I didn't choose you because you were the first ad that I saw." He raise his eyebrow, "I did do research."

"So, uh. Can I ask why you need a house?"

"Sure." McKay smirked at him and John rolled his eyes in response, "I need a house because I need a place to get away from everything. Somewhere that no one knows about. I'm very glad that you didn't tell anyone the address."

"Hey, it's a privacy thing." John let the briefcase rest on the floor as he relaxed a little, "Everyone deserves a little privacy."

"Thank you."

"So. Have you been to see the house yet, or did you just move your stuff in and call a maid service for every other day or whatever?" The blush told John exactly what McKay had done and he snorted. "It's a really nice house, McKay. You should at least go and see it."

"Call me Rodney." McKay, no, _Rodney_ smirked and rolled a pen on his fingers, slouching down, "I haven't exactly had a lot of time in the last week to go and see the house. I'm sure it's just fine and the hot young strawberry-blonde that I hired will do a wonderful job at keeping it up to snuff, Sheppard."

"It's John, and yeah, for the one point eight that you spent on it, it is nice. And the five hundred thou that you gave me."

"As I said," Rodney waved a hand dismissively, "Incentive. It worked, didn't it?"

"It did." John subtly took in the emptiness of Rodney's desk, "I thought Dr Kusanagi said you were busy?"

"I am." Rodney's expression darkened and he threw a hand at the door Beckett had gone through, "Carson comes by every other day or so. I have an hour of drugs and then the rest of the day I spend throwing up." He frowned deeply and meshed his fingers together in front of himself. John watched and tried to think of something that wasn't as hot as Rodney McKay.

It was a little interesting to get his first crush since he'd left the Air Force. It'd only been a year or so and now he was allowed to have a crush on a guy. He had to remind himself that he didn't have to hide it.

"What kind of cancer do you have?" Elizabeth had been in remission for three years. John only knew that because he'd been friends with her for ten years. They had met in a third world country while he was on tour and she was keeping the peace. The UN had sent her in as a diplomat and John had been her helicopter pilot.

"Leukemia," Rodney shook his head. "Carson hasn't given me anything yet today, I usually get my IV before lunch and it's what?" He looked to the clock, "11:30 now."

John nodded, confirming the time with his cell. "Should I go?" He pointed to the door and Rodney smiled tightly at him.

"I don't mean to kick you out, but please. I wouldn't mind if you come back though."

"I don't have any more papers for you to sign."

Rodney grinned then, "Make something up." John grinned back and left with a tiny wave.

Laura was waiting for him at Miko's door. She was leaning one hip against the desk and twirling a lock of her blonde hair in her fingers, "Mr. Sheppard."

"I'm done." She smirked at him as he continued, "I may be back later on to clarify some things, but I'm ready to go."

"Sounds good. See you, Miko."

Miko waved them off and John followed the crazy woman who wasn't afraid of losing a hand into the elevator. Relaxed now, John spotted the outline of both her nine mil's in shoulder holsters.

He didn't ask. Rodney McKay was a billionaire. If his ' Building Manager' was security then who was he to say anything? He didn't know what kind of threats Rodney had, what kind of danger surrounded him.

"I'll see you later, Mr. Sheppard," Laura waved him out the door and John stared up at the building. Rodney was up there, on the top-most floor, getting out-patient care for Leukemia from his personal doctor. He wasn't sure how he felt about that.

So he didn't think about it.

He went about his job and tried to forget about Rodney McKay, with his lopsided smirk and snarky sarcastic wit; his large hands and wide mouth and perfect ass. His blue eyes and voice really were two of the features that John would never forget. They were so bright and deep that at night, when he was laying in bed trying to sleep, his hand strayed from the covers to reach for the phone.

Damn his eidetic memory with numbers anyway. He wasn't supposed to remember Rodney's number. He hung up before he finished dialing the number.

At work, Ronon Dex and Peter Grodin were doing perfect. The company had picked up and John realized that it was because Rodney McKay had been there that they were getting free advertising. Just because he wasn't complaining about the service, Rodney was flagging them as impressive. If he didn't have anything bad to say, he didn't say anything. It was a McKay thing.

Two months after going to the ZPM Enterprises main tower, John found himself standing outside the doors again. This time it wasn't 11:00 in the morning, but 8:30 pm and he had no idea why he was there.

"Mr. Sheppard?" One of the on-duty guards came over and John jerked back. "Sorry, sir." The security guy grinned openly at him and pointed to the door, "Do you want to be let in, sir?"

"No. No, I'm just passing by."

"Are you sure, sir?"

John shuddered at being called 'Sir' again and nodded, "Yeah. Just passing by."

Home for the night, John stepped into his shower and soaped up.

What the hell had he been thinking? Rodney McKay was a billionaire. He had a daughter. He bought a house from him. Seriously, even if Rodney did like him, it was probably only a passing fancy. Rodney McKay could have anyone he wanted.

Just thinking about Rodney made him harden in the warmth of the water and John groaned, trailing a hand down his chest to his cock, closing his fist around himself, jacking up and down. His eyes closed.

There. A tiny glimpse of blue from his imaginary sex partner. And an ass that just wouldn't stop. A mouth that was so perfect--

John threw his head back, hips thrusting, the soap smoothing his way in his fist as he thought about pushing his leaking cock into that wide, open mouth. The warm wetness of Rodney around him, Rodney's tongue along the underside of his cock. Grabbing the short, soft blonde hair and thrusting hard into that unresisting mouth.

Come streaked the shower curtain and John slid down the wall to sit under the spray of the water. Which was getting cold.

"Jesus fuck. The man has Leukemia. You are one sick puppy, Sheppard." He hauled himself out of the shower and dried off, pulling on boxers for bed.

The phone rang before his eyes closed.

"What?" He practically barked into the phone and scowled.

"John?"

Breath caught in his throat, John blinked rapidly, "Rodney? What are you doing calling me? How did you get my home number?"

"I'm a genius with computers, moron," John could see the sneer through the phone and Rodney's eye roll. "Really. You're in the phone book." A short laugh came over the line and John brightened up. He'd never heard Rodney laugh before. He'd never heard _of_ Rodney laughing either.

It was a nice sound.

"Okay. So why are you calling?"

"Stackhouse reported that you were at the building today."

"Who? Oh," John shook his head, "You mean the security guard?"

"Whoever it was that talked to you. I only know his name because he's on loan from the Marines." Rodney verbally eye rolled again, "I have to give the Marines back in the same condition that I got them in. Unless I am injured. Then they are allowed to be injured."

"That's a sucky policy." John snorted and flopped onto his back. "So. Uh. Stackhouse told you I came by. Why'd you call?"

"I wasn't sure you wanted me to." Rodney's voice quieted and then he sighed. "I thought you had a problem with the cancer thing."

"What?" John sat upright, "No! No, I don't have a-- why would you think that?"

"As soon as I told you I had cancer you shut down and then I don't hear from you even though I ask you to come by. With or without a reason. Just to see me." Rodney paused. "I was asking you to come by so we could try dating, in case you didn't get that." He stopped then stumbled on, "Oh God. I really am that bad at subtle aren't I? Jesus, you'd think that I'd learnt my lesson and just stayed blunt like always, but Laura and Miko were giving me all these tips about guys and then you showed up and I tried them and then you didn--"

"Whoa! Hold up, Rodney. You were asking me to a-- what? Pre-date?"

"Um. Yeah."

"--Okay." John buried his face in his hands. He just said yes. To a 'pre-date' with Rodney McKay. Richest Canadian in the world. After jerking off to a fantasy of him in the shower. He couldn't believe how screwed he was.

"Oh. Really?" Rodney perked up and John bemoaned his fate silently.

"Okay, Rodney, I agreed to a 'pre-date'. I'll come by tomorrow or the next day. That's it. That's all I'm committing to right now."

"I, yes. Of course. So." He slowed down, "I guess I'll see you later then."

"Yeah. Okay. Good night, Rodney." John hung his phone up and collapsed back onto the bed, staring at the ceiling. "I am so screwed. What the fuck am I thinking?"

As it turned out, dating Rodney McKay wasn't that hard. Rodney did most of the talking and when they were actually physically in the same place, they ordered out for food and watched cheesy sci-fi and argued whether Star Trek TOS was better than TNG or not. There was some kissing, but mostly they called each other. They would spend lunch and hours after work on the phone because Rodney just wasn't up to doing more then talking most days.

"So, how's the house?" They'd been phone dating for five months and John was curious. He'd heard good things about the Pegasus SGC.

"Err, house?" Rodney paused then coughed, "Ah, yes. The house. It's fine."

John stared at the phone in shock. "Rodney, you bought the house seven months ago. Have you even _seen_ it?"

"I've been a little busy." Rodney snapped, defensively. "Just because I have time to talk to you on the phone doesn't mean that I have time to leave my office and see a fucking house. When I talk to you I'm working. I'm typing, writing and calculating."

"Oh." John's voice was flat and he licked his lips. "So when you said you 'needed a house', you didn't mean one that you were going to live in."

Rodney huffed, "Listen John, in between now and a few more months I'm not going to be going anywhere at all. I'm going to be lying in a bed and doing hard core chemo. That's what I wanted the house for." He stopped then, his voice was quieter, "I don't know how long this out-patient thing is going to last, I don't have a set timeline. Carson has already set everything up that he needs in the huge office I demanded and he'll be living in the other master bedroom to keep an eye on me. When he tells me that I'm moving there, that's it. I'll be spending days, weeks, possibly months in bed and I probably won't be in my right mind."

John sucked in a shocked breath. "I..."

"My cancer isn't hereditary; it was caused by too much radiation." Rodney was still quiet, "I have to confess, I was worried about Jillian until Carson told me that."

"Jillian knows?"

"Yeah. She was asking if she should go get tested for cancer and I told her. She took it fairly well." John could hear Rodney fiddling with the handless, "I have another call. Do you want to wait or call--"

"I'll wait."

"Okay."

John finished filing his later day reports from Ronon and Elizabeth to the classical music that played from his ear piece. He was always the last one to leave the office, the first one there and it drove Katie around the bend. She kept shaking her finger at him and telling him that she was the secretary and it was her job to be there first and last. He just laughed and picked her up more roses.

His business had boomed. PuddleJumper Estates was the Real Estate company of the rich and famous now. Rodney had only been the beginning and thee months after Rodney - which Katie called A.R. - they'd moved the whole company to a new building with more space and he'd had to hire/steal Evan Lorne of Tauri Estates and Eugene Bates of Security Estates. Elizabeth and John mostly handled the rich and famous themselves. Ronon liked to take the foreigners around to show off houses, Bates enjoyed taking their military clients and Lorne had this thing for the young and newly in love couples. Grodin had moved up from being Elizabeth's secretary to showing houses to the blue collar people and Chuck Campbell had been hired to take over for him. Chuck was a god send.

"John?"

"I'm here." John smiled grimly. He was about to tell Rodney off for getting John to sell him a house to die in when a young woman's soft breathy voice interrupted him.

"John Sheppard?"

"...Yeah?"

"My name is Jillian." The daughter. Oh was he in deep shit or what?

"Hi Jillian!" Be nice, be kind and don't say anything stupid.

"Dad told me that you've been helping him through his chemo." Her voice reminded John of Rodney, but tempered.

"Yes, yes he has. I'm also dating him." Rodney cut in and Jillian laughed.

"Oh, Daddy." John could hear her smile, "Of course you are. But you have to do more than phone-date. That's almost as bad as internet dating. You have to go out. In person."

So she may have sounded tempered, but she wasn't much better at curbing her tongue than Rodney was. "I was just about to ask him, Jillian. So Rodney? The new Italian place?"

"Ah. Okay." Rodney was flustered and John counted that as a good thing. "When?"

"How about Friday?" Friday was a good day for John. End of the work week so that if anything after dinner happened, he wouldn't have to rush in the morning. That and it was four days away which meant that it wasn't one of the days that Rodney took chemo.

"Friday, Friday sounds good."

"Oh, you old folks are so cute." Jillian laughed again and made two kiss noises into the phone, "Kiss kiss, Dad, love you."

"Love you, Jillian."

"It was nice to talk to you, John."

"You too, Jillian." And then it was just Rodney and John again.

"So that was Jillian."

"Yeah, that was Jillian." Rodney sighed. "I haven't told her how bad the cancer actually is." Both men were quiet and John finally sighed.

"Call me tomorrow, Rodney. Okay?" Rodney mumbled out his yes and John hung up. He'd learned to hang up immediately or he wouldn't hang up until Rodney did, and Rodney happened to like listening to John breath. They'd spent eight hours once, just listening to each other breath.

Friday morning was bright and even though Ronon stormed into his office ranting about some albino freaks who had a list of demands so long it was sucking the life out of him trying to find them what they wanted, John still felt good.

The phone call he got at noon from Carson Beckett crashed his whole world down around him.

Rodney had been taken to the house in the Pegasus SGC.

"Katie, Chuck, I'm off for the rest of the day. Possibly next week too. Cancel everything I have."

"Sure John," Chuck waved him out of the office, "Give Dr. McKay my best wishes."

John couldn't think about anything as he drove to the PSGC. Shit. The address again. Never mind. "Perfect memory, please don't leave me," John sighed.

31415 Atlantis and Command.

Carson was at the door before he'd even managed to knock once, "How is he? Beckett?"

Carson reached up and removed John's hands from his shirt, "Rodney is just fine right now. I determined this morning that what we were doing wasn't working. I told him months ago that if he didn't have somewhere quiet for intensive Chemo, he was going to be admitted so I've had everything set up here in just incase."

"And?"

"Slow down son. Rodney is upstairs." Carson gripped his arm tight just above the elbow, "Listen to me John." John stopped and looked into Carson's face. He could see the threat hovering behind the soft façade of the kindly doctor, "When you go up there you don't disturb any of the IV's or wires. You may touch him gently but he is bruising easier and easier every day. When I tell you that enough is enough and you have to leave, you leave. Do not make me call Laura down here to remove you from the room, do you understand me?"

"Yes, Dr. Beckett, I understand." John waited until Carson let him go and raced up the stairs, skipping two at a time. He paused outside the door.

The question was would Rodney want to be seen like this.

He opened the door.

"It's a nice house, John." Rodney smiled weakly and John couldn't help but laugh brokenly.

"Jesus, Rodney." John stepped into the room and crossed the floor, kissing Rodney gently. "When you told me why you needed the house, I had hoped that you wouldn't ever see it."

Rodney took his hand as John sat in the comfortable chair beside the bed, "Sorry, John." Their fingers twined together and John contented himself with feeling Rodney's pulse through his thumb and wrist.

****To Be Continued****


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary:** Now dating, John Sheppard fears the worst when Rodney's cancer forces him to the house that Rodney acquired from John.

**Part Two**

Security at Rodney's house was just as tight as it had been at the ZPM Enterprises tower and John had a free pass through it. Laura had moved into one of the guest bedrooms and met him at the door every day when he showed up. Stackhouse had moved into the other guest room and John saw him jogging around surrounding blocks once or twice. John didn't ask about it.

Rodney started looking gaunt and sickly almost immediately, his remaining hair vanished and soon enough, even Carson began to look haggard. John still continued to visit.

One bright July afternoon a lithe young woman John hadn't seen before was sitting in the kitchen with Laura when he came in after work.

"Hi. You must be John." She stood with a tiny smile. John reached out and shook her offered hand, guessing her height to be around five foot ten with white blonde hair that she obviously got from both her parents.

"Yeah. You're Jillian, right?"

"Yeah." She nodded and pointed with her chin to the stairs heading to the basement, "I moved into the suite downstairs. Come see me after you've talked with Dad, okay?" She kissed Laura's cheek and bounced down the stairs.

"Uh. She's--" John shook his head, "She looks like Major McKay."

Laura laughed softly, "Yeah, I know. Doc McKay's told me that he's pleased that she takes after her mother in looks rather than after him."

"Don't know why," John smirked, "Rodney's pretty hot."

"To you and the Major maybe." Laura smirked back, "Must be the brains that turn you on."

"Sure. The brains." John headed up the stairs. If Laura Cadman didn't see how hot Rodney was, who was he to complain? That just meant that Rodney was all his.

Carson wasn't in Rodney's room, and Rodney was asleep, which wasn't unusual these days. John picked up his War and Peace book, in original Russian thank you very much, and settled in to wait for Rodney to wake.

The sun had gone down when Rodney's hoarse voice startled him, "You've been reading that for weeks. Why aren't you done?"

"Well Rodney," John folded the corner of the page over to save his spot and set the book down on the bedside table, "I have a schedule." He kissed Rodney lightly and Rodney kissed back, "I'm gonna finish the book right about the time that you go into remission."

"Doubtful." John chose to take Rodney's words to mean he was doubtful that John would finish the book by the time he'd gone into remission instead of the regularly pessimistic meaning that Rodney was doubtful about going into remission.

"So. How're you feeling today?"

"Wouldn't know, been sleeping. Damn it." Rodney clenched his hand into a fist and banged it against the bed. "Radek came over this morning with a proof for me to read through and-- I couldn't concentrate enough to get through it."

"Shit. Don't worry, Rodney. You'll get better and I'll buy you a bright red Sharpie that you can rip Radek's proof to shreds with." John stroked Rodney's arm with his fingers, gently prying Rodney's fingers away from his palm.

"But I did get a home-made brownie this morning." Rodney brightened then his face fell, "That I threw up. Which sucks 'cause it was really good."

"Who made them?" No one made brownies for this billionaire. He ordered out for them.

"Neighbor. Tessa or something. She's pregnant and got an urge to do the nesting thing and ended up making too many snack foods. She brought them over and after Carson tested them for lemon I got to have one."

"Tessa?" John was pretty sure that he'd never heard that name before.

"I don't know, Tessa, Teri, Teyla, something like that. She got pregnant and took a leave of absence from her job."

"And what does Teyla do?" John remembered Teyla Emmagan from the news and from reading about who lived in the Pegasus SGC. She was a huge stock broker that took an unexpected leave of absence a week ago because she was pregnant. She also lived in 31413.

"Are you an idiot?" Rodney eyed him carefully, "Are you losing your memory? She's the Wall Street guru. Started with millions and made billions? Athos Brokerage?"

"I was just testing." John kissed Rodney again and drew his fingers down the side of Rodney's cheek. He was fading again. "Go back to sleep, Rodney." Rodney leaned into the touch and his eyes closed; his breath evened out and then he was asleep.

John kissed his forehead and headed back downstairs. Laura, Carson and Jillian were watching the newest Die Hard movie on the 52 inch HDTV with headphones. Jillian paused the movie when she saw him and all three of them turned to him.

Carson was the first out of his chair, "How's Rodney?"

"He's fine, Carson. Sleeping again. Now it's my turn. How's Rodney?"

Carson bit his lip and shook his head. "I haven't the faintest idea how or why he's still alive. He's been through so many drug combinations that I'm surprised every time he wakes up," Frustrated with how his patient was doing, Carson didn't sugar coat his diagnosis. He knew that John wanted the plain, unvarnished truth anyway. He ran his hand through his hair and Jillian patted his elbow.

"Don't worry, Carson. Daddy's alive because he has us. He'll get better because he has us too." She lounged next to Laura and stared at John. "You know, I'm surprised that Daddy managed to land the hottest guy and chick ever. Mom was beautiful and you're smoking hot and neither one of you want his money."

"Uh. Thanks?" John frowned, uncertain of how to respond to his boyfriend's daughter pointing out his good looks. "You're done with University?"

"For this year. I'm taking a few summer classes in Biology at the local Uni here while Daddy's not feeling well. He thinks the soft sciences are bogus." She laughed lightly and rolled to her feet. "Now, I have one thing to say to you, because I don't need to know if you're serious, you stayed up there with him for hours and I know how he looks." Her blue eyes that she got from her father hardened into solid chips of pure sapphire and a glare hardened her features, "If you hurt him John Edward Sheppard I will kill you and it will take a very long time."

John was about to laugh until he realized that Jillian was serious and raised an eyebrow. "Okay. Consider me warned. Where did you learn that look anyway?" he gestured to her face and she smiled, covering any hardness at all.

"Mom." She flounced to the stairs and with one last hard look at John, started down them.

"Aren't you gonna finish the movie?" Carson called after her.

"Got a TV and another copy down in my room," Her voice wafted up the stairs and Carson shrugged at John.

"She's as independent as her father."

"It's late, I better go." John gathered up his jacket and Laura pointed to the kitchen.

"You want to take Stacks some coffee? He's been outside for five hours."

"Sure." John took the mug and stepped out the door. This was a test that Laura and Stacks had thought up for him to examine the worthiness of Rodney's safety in his hands. Now he had to find Stacks and give him the coffee before it got cold.

Which was never very hard. John had a sixth sense for these things. It kinda spooked Stacks out until John had casually mentioned his time in the Air Force during one of their short conversations.

"Hey, Stacks."

"Sir." Stacks took the coffee and frowned. "That was fast."

"There are only so many places for a guy to hide in a suburban area, man." John tucked his hands into his pockets and rocked back on his heels. "So, I want to ask what kind of danger Rodney is in that he gets Marines to protect him. Can I do that?"

"No, Sir, you can't." Stacks shrugged apologetically.

"Okay. So if I just happen to start wearing a registered piece, would that make you nervous?"

"No, Sir. If it was registered then I'm trusting that you'll have gone to the range and been checked out on your piece." Stacks looked at him cockeyed, "Given that you're ex-military and all, Sir."

"Okay. Just checking."

"Always a good thing, Sir." Stacks saluted him with his coffee and John walked to his new Ford Mustang.

The first thing he did when he was home was pull out the Beretta he owned. It was already registered, but he hadn't touched it except to clean it in over a year. It was a reminder of what he'd had to do. Of why he wasn't in the Air Force anymore.

Mechanically, not even thinking about it, he broke the Beretta 92FS down and cleaned it again. He'd have to take it to the range, get re-certified and pull out his license to carry a concealed weapon. He wasn't about to let Rodney down when the moment came. He wasn't about to let Rodney down the same way that he'd let Sumner down.

He checked the two magazines he had, one a 15 round magazine and the other a 19 round mag.

The other gun that he pulled out to check wasn't one that was legal unless you had special dispensation, which John had. His .50 caliber Desert Eagle. It was a veritable cannon, but the stopping power of the Desert Eagle was enough to satisfy even John's necessity for assurance.

He decided he might have to wear it once or twice just to smirk at the envy on Laura's face.

John put the Desert Eagle back together, flicked the safety on and set it aside. Time for his shower and then he'd hit the hay. Get some sleep for the new day tomorrow.

As soon as the steady stream of hot water hit him, John's thoughts turned back to Rodney. Rodney, who was dying. His fist clenched unconsciously and John slammed his knuckles into the wall.

"God damn it." Why the hell did he have to go and fall in love with a dying man?

The smattering of pink diluted blood washed away and John cruelly scrubbed the shampoo into his hair. Damn it.

Rodney.

He _had_ to stop thinking about Rodney. Even Bates was giving him strange looks now and then. Well. More often then not.

Only when he mentioned Rodney.

"Stop it, Sheppard." John ducked under the spray and washed the grime and soap away. "You have more self control than this." He stepped lightly from the tub and faced himself in the mirror.

His hazel eyes were hard and his hair was flat. His face-- there was no expression. The look that he gave himself scared even him. It was the look of someone who didn't care if he was live or not. He looked empty and defeated. Any emotion that John had was poured into Rodney and the hope of Rodney surviving.

John shook his head and tried a smile. It was unnatural, but better then the other look. Just his eyes were cold and dead now.

That was the smile that he had on his face for the next few days. Chuck and Katie spent those days rescheduling John's appointments so he didn't scare off the clients.

He was thankful and stayed in his office to be out of everyone's way.

There were definitely more flowers for Katie and a tidy little bonus for Chuck in the making.

"John?" Carson's voice carried over his phone that Friday and John refused to let his hand spasm around the phone. He may have to start hating Fridays.

"Carson."

"You should come over after work tonight." Carson sounded reassuring, but he was a doctor who was used to making sure people felt safe in his hands, even when they weren't. He couldn't fool John, Carson was nervous about something.

"I'll be there. Is Jillian there?"

"Stackhouse called Markham to pick her up and take her to a movie. She also said that she'll be doing some shopping while they're at the mall," Carson cleared his throat, "I think you'll want to be here when I give Rodney the news."

"Okay. Yeah," John slumped in his chair. "I-- I'll be there. Five thirty at the latest, okay?"

"Alright. John, there is some good news to go with the bad."

Handling good news and bad news wasn't something that John did well, so he hung up without saying goodbye and buried his face in his hands.

Rodney was going to die. Carson was going to give them a time limit.

"Fuck!" John exploded and swiped his arms across his desk, scattering everything onto the floor in a resounding crash. "God fucking damn it!"

No one came to see what was wrong.

Standing, John picked up the blue glass vase that Elizabeth had given to him as a present for forming a new company and threw it as hard as he could at the wall. It shattered beautifully, falling as tiny pieces to the floor as John went to his book shelf and started randomly picking up thick books and binders, throwing them hard, screaming without words.

He screamed and screamed and threw anything he could get his hands on. When there was nothing left to throw, he slid down the wall, cradling his head in his hands, curling up into a small quivering ball of grief and loss. He was going to lose Rodney.

Seemingly hours later, John crawled to his feet and surveyed the ruined office. There was paper, glass and computer parts everywhere, some even imbedded into the wall. He wiped furiously at his face, hoping to get rid of the tear tracks, and ran a still shaking hand through his hair.

He straightened his shirt and controlled his breathing, forced the shaking of his hands to stop and when he was calmer, he exited the office.

Chuck and Katie refused to look at him.

"I'm going home now." His voice was hoarse, "I would appreciate it if you would get someone to clean up my office." Without looked back, he left.

By the time that he arrived at 31415 Atlantis, he'd shaved, showered, changed and was in tight control of his every move. He had to be strong for Rodney.

Carson led him up the stairs and gestured for him to sit. Rodney was already awake.

"Alright, now; there is good news and bad news." Carson grimaced, "Which would you prefer first?"

"Just tell us." Rodney snapped, twisting his hands in John's.

"Due to the extreme aggressiveness of the chemotherapy that I've been giving you Rodney, I'm sorry to say that you have been chemically sterilized by the drugs." Carson flinched, as though expecting Rodney to yell.

Instead, Rodney just blinked. "But I'll still be able to orgasm, right?"

"Aye Rodney, you'll still be able to orgasm. But Jillian will be your only child."

John snorted softly, "That isn't a problem for us, Carson. And if that was the good news, I'm more terrified of the bad then I was earlier."

Carson's expression became grave, "Also due to the extreme aggressiveness with which I've been treating your cancer, I am very surprised that you've lived this long." He stopped and a flashed them a blindingly brilliant smile, "Congratulations, you've entered remission."

Neither man could speak.

"Now," Carson continued, "You'll be very weak for some time yet and I'll be starting you on physical therapy as soon as you gain some weight--"

"Rodney--" John ignored Carson in favor of looking to Rodney with wide eyes and Rodney just stared back at him. "Rodney, you beat it."

"I-- I did, didn't I?" Whispering the words, Rodney brought John's hand to his mouth and kissed it, "I beat it, John."

"Oh my god." John leaned over Rodney and kissed him enthusiastically, though still gently. "You beat it, Rodney, you beat it."

"John. John." Rodney said his name in between the kisses, "John, I'm in remission." His bright blue eyes were glazed with tears and he laughed, loud and sudden, "I'm in remission!"

"We-- We have to tell Jillian. She'll be so happy, Rodney, she's gonna get her Dad back." Rodney nodded and patted the bed next to him.

"Climb in."

"Rodney, I'm not allowed--" John looked around the room cautiously but Carson had left in the time that they'd been ignoring him, "Carson will skin me alive."

"John," Rodney smiled at him, "I'm in remission. Get in the god damn bed." Grinning back at Rodney, John did was he was told and encircled Rodney in his arms, resting his face in the crook of Rodney's neck, breathing in his smell.

Rodney was alive and he was staying that way.

It would have been a perfect day. It _was_ a perfect day. Right up until Laura burst quietly in while they were dozing.

"John. We have to go."

"What? Laura--"

"Markham is dead." The words stopped John cold and he clambered out of the bed wide awake, fury in his eyes.

"Jillian?" He was all business and Rodney groaned, waking slowly.

"John?"

"Don't worry Rodney, everything will be fine." Laura nodded to confirm his promise and John pecked Rodney on the mouth, "I have to leave for a little bit, but I'll be right back."

"Hurry back, John."

"Always."

Outside of Rodney's room, John checked his ankle holster and slung on the shoulder rig that Laura had picked up from the kitchen, "How's Jillian?"

"Scared. She called a minute ago and said that Markham had been shot," Laura led the way downstairs and to the government issue sedan with bullet proof glass, "I asked her if he could talk to me and she stopped crying long enough to tell me that he was dead."

"Where are they?"

"Zelenka is tracking Jillian's cell phone right now and we'll have her position in two minutes." She revved the engine and pulled out of the driveway. Stackhouse held guard at the front door, on his cell to secure back up for both them and himself.

Laura pulled into the mall parking lot five minutes later and screeched to a halt with burning tires. John was the first one out of the door and headed to Markham's car.

"Jillian! Jillian!"

"John! Oh my god, John!" John saw a delicate hand wave in the air and he headed full bore in her direction, thanking every deity he'd ever heard of that Markham had insisted that he take Jillian to the nearest mall.

"Get back down, Jillian!" He took cover behind the line of parked cars and made his way to Jillian only to have her throw herself into his arms.

"John they shot Matt!" John hugged her back and gently pried her off him, giving her over to Laura.

He bent to check Markham's pulse but knew it was useless. The amount of blood from his chest was a good indication of death. "Fuck." He pulled his Beretta and fingered the safety off. "Laura, get Jillian back to the car." There was a popping sound and several pings as bullets ricocheted off the car John was behind. "Now, Cadman!"

"Yes, Sir!" Laura hauled Jillian behind her like a rag doll, getting her into the car and driving madly out of the parking lot, trusting John to deal with the shooters. She'd seen his record and trusted his abilities.

"She's safe, you assholes! You didn't get her!" John called out the challenge and peeked around the edge of the car he was behind to see where the shooter, or shooters, were.

He saw two men, both darkly tanned with brown hair and dark eyes. John took aim and fired a single shot.

It hit the shorter man in the forehead and he went down without a sound. "You better have back up asshole! Because I'm going to kill you, too!"

"I don't need back up," The remaining man, who had pock marks in his face, took a few shots at John and John ducked back down. "I will kill you myself!"

"You couldn't hit the broad side of a fucking barn!" John snapped up into a shooter's position as soon as the man stopped firing and within the space of a single breath targeted and fired. The man flew back, blood spraying from his shoulder. "How do you like that?"

The gunman stumbled to his feet and a car swerved around the corner, stopping only long enough for the man to fall into the back seat before the unidentified driver took off again. John took two shots at the tires then had to stop for fear of hitting a civilian.

Watching them go, noting absently that there were no license plates, John pulled out his cell phone, biting out his words, "Cadman, come pick me up." He could already hear the sirens in the distance.

"Yes, Sir."

The military made the whole thing go away.

There was no mention of the shoot out in the papers and no witnesses stepped forward. No names were printed and if John hadn't been there, he never would have known that it had happened.

John refused to think about Rodney's power and influence and how it extended to protect John just by being with him.

John also refused the body guard that General O'Neill wanted to place with him. He was more then capable of defending himself.

The cleanliness and perfect-ness of his office when he went into work on Monday astounded him. "Good work, guys." Katie blushed at the praise while Chuck just nodded. John noted the shoulder holster under the Canadian's sport jacket as well as the sawed off shotgun under Chuck's desk

There were differences about the office that he noted subconsciously and focused on. The paint had been redone and there was a picture on his wall that he'd never seen before. He waved at it and smiled. Even if he'd refused General O'Neill's offer of a body guard, he wasn't going to hinder the man by disposing of the General's precautions.

It was practically surreal. Ever since he'd met Rodney, his life was totally different, but so much the same. John had gone from just a regular ex-military guy with a new business to having the top-rated real estate business in the country and he was slowly going back to being military. He had guns, his _employee's_ had guns. Lorne, Dex and Bates were all ex-military, Chuck was a retired RCMP officer and Elizabeth and Katie both had been in third world countries during their previous jobs. They knew procedure.

He'd gotten out of the military for reasons, but he could deal with it working its way back into his life. He was in love and Rodney was in remission and Jillian liked him.

When Rodney started his physical therapy in July, John made sure to be there for it. He cajoled, pleaded and bribed Rodney with promises of sex and physics papers to get him to work harder and longer at getting his strength back. Rodney complained, snapped and got huffy, but he did what he needed to do, and more. He did it for John.

By the middle of August, Rodney had moved out of 31415 Atlantis and back into his tower suite. Carson was still on Rodney's payroll, but had become the personal physician of most of the employee's in the tower now that he more free time. Jillian headed back to University to finish up her second PhD and then, suddenly, it was just John and Rodney again.

No more machines, no IV's, no over protective doctor. No more security just a wall away and no daughter.

Just them.

It was fantastic.

Rodney shifted in his arms and John smiled at him. "Hey, buddy."

"John." Rodney stroked his back with his large warm palms and John nuzzled his neck. "Are we actually watching this?" It was the extended edition of Ironman with Robert Downey Jr. and even though both men liked their superheroes, they were spending more time making out on the couch than watching or critiquing the movie. Which Rodney was prone to doing.

"Nah, not really."

"Didn't think so." Rodney fumbled with the remote and the TV turned black. "So. I actually have a question for you." He wiggled away and John sat back, giving him space. "What exactly are we doing?"

"Uhm. Making out?"

"No, no, I know that. I mean-- We've known each other for over a year. You stood by me when you thought I was dying of cancer."

"I know."

"What do you want?" Frustrated, Rodney pulled himself to his feet and started pacing the room, "You just, you come over practically everyday, you talk to me on the phone, you aren't pushing for sex and you keep refusing to let me pay for _anything_. I mean, you've paid for every single meal that we've ever eaten together! Everyone wants something from me, what is it that you want?"

"Rodney--"

"And now. Now I'm in remission and my life is getting back together, I've managed to catch up on most of the stuff that Zelenka has been working on, and let me tell you, he was getting stupider everyday, but then again, he started out with a flawed premise and if you--"

"Rodney?"

"Oh, yes. Sorry. But still! You don't want anything! You don't ask for anything. You don't demand that I do anything! Hell, if I want to be alone for a while, you don't complain and you don't ask for compensation from me." He stood in the middle of the living room outlined by the black TV screen, empty. He had so many questions and it didn't matter that he had words; he didn't know how to feel. He didn't understand why John was still there.

John cocked his head to the side and smiled, "There's a really simple answer Rodney." He wasn't confused. John knew exactly how he felt and he was okay with that now. "I love you."

Rodney opened his mouth then closed it. Then he did it again. Finally a pleasantly shocked smile made its way to his face and he looked like he was about to scuff his foot against the floor.

"Oh." He swallowed and stared at John like he'd never seen him before. "Oh," He repeated.

"Yeah." John was pretty sure that Rodney loved him back, but he didn't worry about hearing the words. Actions, in Rodney's case especially, spoke so much louder then words. Rodney took time out of his day to actually _be_ with John. That was enough for John to be convinced that Rodney wasn't pretending. Rodney didn't do anything he didn't want to and Rodney loved to work.

If he stopped working, it was to do something more enjoyable. And spending time with John said that he enjoyed it, just by being there with him.

"I-- ah."

"I know."

"Just to make sure I have this correct," Rodney stepped up to John and sat down, straddling John's thighs, "You love me," John nodded. "We haven't had sex yet," John nodded again. "And you're still here."

"Yes."

"Good." Rodney leaned in and took John's mouth with his, cupping his face with his hands, stroking his neck. John pushed back into the kiss and let his mouth drop open when he moaned.

****To Be Continued****


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary:** John had thought everything was going well. Well; until the power went out.

**Part Three**

Waking up next to Rodney was always nice. Knowing that it was the last day before the weekend made it even that much better.

Rodney groaned and let his arm flop over his face, "Too early. Tell Miko I'm dead."

"Yeah, like that excuse would get you out of work. Rodney, everyone knows you're so much of a workaholic that you'd go to work the morning of your funeral." Kissing Rodney's pouting mouth, John rolled out of the king size bed and headed to the bathroom. He'd moved into Rodney's tower suite three months ago when Rodney had moved from the Pegasus SGC.

Rodney insisted that it was just easier all around to have them both move at the same time. John knew the excuse for what it was and went along with it. To his surprise, Rodney had cut his hours back from staying at work until 3am to coming home between 7 and 9 in the evening. It was doing more to stroke John's ego than the Times Magazine article on his growing business and the figures he had in his bank account.

Stepping from the shower, John wrapped a towel around his waist and went back into the bedroom where Rodney was hiding under the duvet.

"Hey, remember to get back to your office by six, huh? Teyla's coming today to help me chose my investments." Teyla had become a good friend while Rodney had resided in the Pegasus SGC. After she'd given birth to her son, she'd helped Rodney with his physiotherapy as a way to get back into shape. John learned that she held at two different black belts in various martial arts.

There was a grumble from the vicinity of the bed and John chuckled. Rodney wouldn't forget so John was more then happy to get on his way to PuddleJumper HQ.

By the time 5pm rolled around, everyone at PuddleJumper Estates was ready to go home. Elizabeth's beau, Steven Caldwell, was in the New York docks with his ship for the weekend; Katie, Peter, and Chuck had tickets to a weekend long carnival; Ronon had plans to go up to Canada to hunt and Lorne had some military buddies on leave that he was going partying with.

Waving everyone out the door, John puttered around the office for a few minutes, letting his occasional bout of OCD influence him into straightening up the paper and pens on his desk before he settled his Desert Eagle in his shoulder rig, grabbed his jacket and headed home. He'd made sure to never be without a weapon since the attack on Jillian.

Stackhouse and Miller waved John into the ZPM Tower doors and he met Laura at the elevator, "How goes it?" His question wasn't so much a request for small talk as an order for a sit rep.

"It goes." Laura sighed and leaned against the wall, "It was particularly hard to get everyone to leave today, Radek brought in some uranium into the lab this morning and everyone one was pretty excited, but the tower is empty except for Carson, who's babysitting Kanaan for Ms. Emmagan. She's waiting for us at the midway stop."

"And Rodney?" Hearing Laura talk about uranium in such a blasé way set John's teeth on edge. He remembered that Rodney's cancer was due to too much radiation.

"He's waiting in the office; Radek wouldn't let him onto the floor with the lab holding the uranium so he's feeling a little left out. Jillian went up there to talk to him for a minute before you have your meeting with Ms. Emmagan; she decided to come home for the weekend and visit you two."

"I saw Miller out front with Stacks." John opened his jacket and unwrapped his scarf. Miller had been the soldier who had taken over Jillian's protection after Markham had been shot in the parking lot. "The guys weren't even shivering in this cold."

"Shift change was just a little while ago, and they've had worse," Laura chuckled, "We were all stationed in the Antarctic before coming back to the States with Dr. McKay."

Before John could respond, the elevator jerked to a halt and the lights went out.

"What happened?" John steadied himself against the wall as the emergency lights came on and Laura pulled out her comm. unit. John tried the emergency phone and doors. The phone was dead and the doors wouldn't open.

"Miller? Miller, you there?" She got only static and she frowned, trying several other channels.

John assessed the elevator and saw the hatch at the top. He shrugged out of his jacket and scarf and tested the stainless steel railings on the walls at a corner. Confirming their strength, John turned to Laura, "Give me a hand."

Steadying John, Laura helped hoist him up the wall, John's winter boots were perfect for gripping the thin railings. John grunted with the effort, but he managed to shove the hatch open and used his upper body strength to pull himself up and out.

Laura held up a hand and John reached down and pulled her up. She caught the edge of the hatch and finished hauling herself up, "Goddamn heels." She toed her black heels off and let them drop back down into the elevator. Suddenly she paused and raised a hand to her comm. unit on her ear.

"What?"

"Someone-- Fuck." Laura grimaced and unsnapped her gun holsters, making sure to loosen her service weapons so that they were easy to access. "Get ready. We need to get to Dr. McKay."

"Cadman. What is it?" John set himself against the wall and held out his hands in position to let Laura use him as a step up to the doors.

"You know the guys that killed Markham," Laura didn't phase the words as a question, expecting him to understand her as she stepped into his hands and reached for the doors.

"Couldn't forget them." John answered her anyway while he lifted her up.

Struggling to claw the doors open, Laura cursed, "They cut the power. They commandeered Stackhouse and Miller's comm. units as well as knocking the main power out. I don't know if the guys are dead or not."

"At least we--" Laura wiggled in his hands and John felt her press her stomach to his face, "Can hear them."

"Fucking doors--" Laura got them open, "Come on, Sir." She wiggled up through the thin opening and held a hand down for John.

At least they knew how to work together. John got to his feet and looked around the hall. "What floor are we on?"

"33." Laura pulled her guns out at the same time John pulled his Desert Eagle and John followed her down the hall, moving cautiously. "The stairs have magnetic locks. Without the main power we're going to have to--" The power flickered to life and she swore again. "No one knows about the locks. They shouldn't have--"

"Shhh." John dove for the side of the stairwell door. They heard pounding footsteps. Keeping his voice at a whisper, John frowned at Laura, "How did they get up here so fast?"

"I don't know," She hissed back at him.

John shook his head in dismay while using his left hand to indicate three, two, one and they burst out the door together, John going for the right while Laura went to the left.

The stairwell became a battlefield.

Blood sprayed the walls and people screamed and Laura hit every target she aimed for. John's gun bucked strongly in his hands with every shot that he took. The pounding of his heart deafened John to the outside noise and the haze from the gunpowder made his eyes water.

One man hiding a floor down screamed something at them and John levelled his Desert Eagle on him. As he pulled the trigger, he realized that he recognized the man. He'd been the driver at the mall.

Laura's scream jerked John back into focus and he turned just in time to see one of the last two men alive slam the butt of his gun into her temple. John roared in anger and lunged at him. Getting his hands around the neck of the man, John didn't hesitate as he twisted hard and the loud snap and surprised eyes that stared at him made John twitch. It had been a long time since he'd killed someone with his bare hands.

Silence came over the stairwell and John bent over Laura's prone body. He checked her neck for a pulse and was relieved when he found that she was still alive. But she wasn't any good to him now, not injured like that.

A squeak from the edge of the stairs had John pulling his gun up and he fired.

The body stayed up only for a moment before tumbling back down the stairs. It was missing the back of its head.

Checking the stairs again, John counted the bodies.

Twelve. A good number. Dismissing the carnage from his mind, John grabbed Laura's shoulders and pulled her back into the hall and then into the closest office with a fingerprint lock. She was still alive, so he was able to use her hand to set the lock. He patted her down for ammunition and tucked one of her guns into his pants. Her comm. unit went into his ear.

John ejected his spent .50 caliber magazine and slammed in another. He chambered a round, checked Laura once more then exited the office, waiting until he heard the lock engage before heading back to the stairs.

He had to get to Rodney.

Running up forty-two floors of stairs wasn't something he'd planned on doing this morning when he woke up, but at least he was in shape.

The Desert Eagle was holstered in favour of Laura's 9mm. He'd found a silencer in Laura's holster, so it was the obvious choice for making sure no one heard him coming. He'd save his last magazine of .50 caliber ammunition for when he needed stopping power.

Determination was clear on his face as he stopped at the door to the thirty-fifth floor. This was the floor where he changed elevators to get to Rodney's office. He peeked through the window and was shocked to see Teyla Emmagan knife fighting furiously with a strawberry blonde woman. He was about to interfere and shoot the bitch when Teyla disarmed her. Even without a knife, the woman lunged at Teyla, clearly intending on killing her. Teyla spun out of the way and as the younger woman rushed by, shoved the blade of her knife into the woman's back.

"Teyla." John stepped into the hallway and Teyla spun, growling. She paused and cleared her face of expression.

"John."

"Is she dead?"

"No. I did not hit anything vital. It is only painful and incapacitating," Teyla wiped her bloody nose. "I have to go."

"What's wrong?" John's eyes widened. "Shit, Kanaan." He let Teyla pass by him, "Go, go. Make sure your son is okay." Teyla went for the door and John called out as she opened it, "Hey." She looked over her shoulder at him, "You get amnesty for anyone you happen to kill. Don't hesitate."

A feral look came over her face and John was happy that he wasn't the cause of it, "I will not." And then she was gone.

Considering the elevator, John knew that he wouldn't take it. The stairs would work the best.

The crackle of the comm. in his ear made him stop and listen.

_"Whoever it was that killed my men, stop hiding and come and face me like a man."_

That voice. That was the man from the mall. John had already shot him once. John flicked the comm. on, "My name is John Sheppard and I figure that since I've already shot you once, you might as well tell me your name."

_"I am Commander Augustus Kolya. Surrender yourself and I won't have to kill Dr. McKay's beautiful daughter."_

John snarled and his eyes narrowed as he started up the stairs again, "You wouldn't dare. You know that if you killed her I won't rest until you're dead."

Kolya chuckled deeply and John heard Rodney's pleading voice in the background, _"I think we may be at a bit of an impasse."_ John raced for the stairs and started up them. He had to get there before Kolya did anything. He had to. _"You see, I want you to stop killing my men, but you refuse to. You want this young woman alive, but I'm using her as leverage against Dr. McKay."_ Kolya let the comm. unit pick up the sound of him chambering a round in his gun. _"And if Dr. McKay doesn't do exactly what I tell him to, I'm going to shoot her."_

John could hear Rodney pleading with Kolya over the radio and lengthened his stride, taking two steps at a time, "If you shot her I'll kill you slowly."

_"Dr. McKay."_ Kolya obviously didn't care that John had spoken, he was too busy trying to keep Rodney under control, _"I want that bomb. You will make it for me."_

_"No, I won't."_ Rodney's voice was tiny over the comm. unit and John strained to hear it. _"You can kill me if you want, but I won't make you a nuclear weapon."_

The sudden shot over the comm. unit startled John and he tripped over the last couple of stairs on the sixty-eighth floor. John could hear Rodney screaming.

_"That, John Sheppard, was the sound of a beautiful sixteen year old blond getting shot in the head"._

John felt a wave of calm come over him. Curiously, he mentally poked at it. He wasn't furious, or scared, or even angry. He knew, without a doubt, that he was going to be the one to kill Augustus Kolya. It would be methodical and calculated. It would be outright murder.

And it would be perfect.

"That was the last mistake you'll ever make." John took the comm. unit from his ear and tucked it into his pocket. He checked his borrowed nine mil and secured his Desert Eagle. With his nine mil in hand and the other weapon ready to be drawn at a moments notice, he started back up the stairs.

He had a meeting with Kolya.

Running up the remaining seven floors of stairs, John only counted the number of renegade soldiers that he killed peripherally. He had other things on his mind. He broke necks, backs and skulls; threw them over the railing to fall however many dozens of floors screaming. He shot those that ran, those who thought they could get away.

Bursting through the door to Rodney's antechamber, John presented a gruesome figure, covered in blood, barely gasping for breath as his cold eyes scanned for anything even remotely dangerous. Going to the desk, John ripped open the top right hand drawer and grinned morbidly as he pulled the stainless steel letter opener from Miko's well organized mess of office supplies.

Skulking to the door outside of Rodney's office he settled down to wait.

He didn't have to wait for very long.

The door swung open and a young black man who looked strung out on drugs exited, heading across the office without even looking around. As soon as the office door swung closed again, John was on him, stabbing the letter opener straight into his left kidney as John covered his mouth with his other hand.

The twenty-something druggie tried to scream and John wretched the makeshift weapon out of his back and plunged it quickly in and out of the other kidney.

Lowering the struggling body to the ground, John rolled the man onto his back and pressed the bloody blade to his throat, "How many men in the office?" He hissed quietly into the man's face.

There was a gurgle and the young man's eyes widened and then blinked slowly. John removed his hand from his mouth and waited for an answer.

"Three."

"Good boy." Without wasting another moment, John drew the blade roughly across the man's throat, slicing it wide open. With one final shuddering breath, the man died.

Planning the execution of his entrance, John tossed the bloody letter opener on the carpet by the dead man and pulled out his Desert Eagle. This was what this weapon was for.

Revenge.

Killing.

John took a deep breath and slammed the door open, rolling into the room, cataloguing positions. He came to his feet firing both guns at once, one muffled shot from his nine mil overwhelmed by the single shot from John's cannon in gun form.

Two bodies hit the ground and John let a smile creep over his face as he stared down the barrel of Kolya's gun.

"I remember you now." Kolya smiled. His hand was around Rodney's neck and John refused to react to the tears tracks on his lover's face. He had a job to do.

"That's good."

"Drop the guns," Kolya lazily re-aimed his gun at Rodney's temple, "Or I'll kill him too."

Seeing no way to get to Koyla before he was able to get the shot off that killed Rodney, John did as he was told, putting the guns down gently. "So, I hear you want a nuke."

Fury appeared on Kolya's face, "My country will not be taken so lightly when we have weapons of mass destruction at our disposal. We want the best, and McKay makes the best."

"I know." John edged towards the body of Jillian which was laid out, face down, in front of the big picture window.

"We won't take no for an answer, Doctor." Kolya breathed deeply into Rodney's ear and Rodney only closed his eyes. He had no will left to fight after watching his daughter getting shot.

"I think you might have a little problem there, Kolya," John bent to check Jillian's neck for a pulse and refused to scream in elation when he felt a sluggish thumping under his fingers, "You see, I've killed, by my count, fifty-eight of your people. You can't possibly have too many more."

Kolya scowled, "You flea bitten son of a whore." Kolya yanked on Rodney's throat and Rodney choked a bit as they moved backwards, around the desk. "It doesn't matter how many you've killed, you won't be able to get me."

"I've got you once already." John smirked, eyes lighting up dangerously, "Besides, your army can't be that skilled. I mean, come on. A wall-street stock broker killed that pretty little strawberry blonde you brought with you." He lied about the woman Teyla had incapacitated in a vain hope that she was important to Kolya. He was disappointed when the terrorist didn't seem to care.

Glancing out the door, Kolya caught sight of the dead man and sneered, "Sora was only with us because your soldiers killed her father. She wanted revenge."

"Kinda hard to get revenge when you're dead, isn't it?" John jutted his jaw out, "And seriously, the drugged out guy in Miko's office? Why him?"

Keep them talking. Teyla had proven herself more than capable, so he stalling for time and waiting for reinforcements. It was the best course of action while Kolya was the only one with a gun.

"Ah, poor Ford. He used to be one of the Marines posted here to 'protect' McKay. He got dishonourably discharged for drugs and he was perfect for this mission. He knew everything about the building and how to get around it all."

"And you thought that McKay would give you want you wanted."

"Of course. Everyone knows that McKay is basically useless when threatened." John tried not to snort out loud.

The look in Rodney's eyes told John that Rodney had taken offence to Kolya's comment.

Finally, some emotion in Rodney. John wasn't going to be able to do this without Rodney's help and Rodney wasn't in any condition to be helping when he was shell shocked.

When Kolya glanced away again, John winked at Rodney with a subtle gesture at Jillian. Rodney's eyes widened then narrowed. His face became set and he braced himself.

"So you think you can just walk into my office, my building, _my territory_ and make me do what you want." Rodney snarled, "You think you can kill my daughter and that I'll still do what you want me to? Fuck you." He pulled himself up straight, knocking the gun away from his head as he moved, utilizing the training that he'd gotten from Teyla and John during physiotherapy to duck away, scurrying towards the desk.

In that same second, John dove for his Desert Eagle, rolling left and with one motion targeted Kolya's face and fired.

The boom of the weapon shook the glass in the walls and Rodney ran to Jillian.

John stood slowly, weapon still trained on Kolya, and walked towards the body on the floor. He reached out with his foot and nudged the body enough so that it would roll over and John got a good look at the inside of his skull and the mess of visible brains.

It had been a good shot.

Getting the comm. unit from his pocket he clipped it back into place and thumbed it on, "Is anyone there?"

_"This is Colonel Everett, who is this?"_

"This is Major John Sheppard, retired. I've secured Doctor and Miss McKay. We need a medical doctor for Miss McKay though, she's been shot."

_"I'll send one up."_ Everett shut up and John moved towards Rodney and Jillian.

"I think she'll be okay," Rodney was busy stanching Jillian's slow bleeding with his ripped dress shirt and John helped him, "Ford was the one that shot her, he missed her head and got her shoulder." He looked up into John's eyes with pride, "She's a smart girl. She made sure to start spinning before he fired and the blood splatter made it look like he killed her."

John was about to answer when the office door opened and before he even thought, his gun was trained at the person standing there, hands on her hips.

"I get knocked out and you lock me in an office on the thirty-third floor." Laura shook her head, "That's probably one of the more stupid things you've done, Sir."

"I also borrowed one of your guns." John waved at the floor where he'd left Laura's gun and she huffed. Catching sight of Jillian, she rushed forward, "Oh my god, is she alright?"

"'m fine--" Jillian mumbled, waking up and grimacing at the three faces staring down at her, "I'll be fine. You?"

"Goose-egg and a couple cuts and bruises. Can you stand?" Laura wiggled in between John and Jillian and John backed away, going around the stationary teenager to Rodney.

"Hey, Buddy."

Rodney looked at John, "Hey."

"You okay?"

"You-- you saved us."

"Yeah, I did."

Rodney flung himself into John's arms, "Jesus, don't you ever do that again. I thought I'd lost Jillian and then you stopped answering Kolya on the comm. and I almost went insane."

"Sorry, Buddy, I didn't mean to alarm you." John wrapped his arms around Rodney to pull him closer and there was a cough from the floor. Both men looked down at Jillian.

"I just got shot. You aren't allowed to make out until I get home from the hospital." Her pained grin belied her feelings and John smiled.

"Alright, Kiddo."

The four of them sat in the office, John holding Rodney and Laura holding Jillian, and they waited for Everett and his soldiers to get there.

It was over. Kolya was dead.

John cocked his head to the side, "Wait a minute, does this mean that the Marines get sent home, now that Kolya is dead?"

"Why would it?"

"He was the one threatening you, right?"

"He was only one of many, John. One of many."

****The End****


End file.
